Emanuele @ dev.emcelettronica.com published an article on how to drive LEDs:
The LEDs (Light Emitting Diode) are diodes whose basic characteristic is the ability to emit light when they are passed through a current that flows from P to N region. At each recombination between the charge carriers (electrons and holes), on PN junction region, a photo emission is generated, and the total quantity of emitted photons, and therefore the light intensity, is proportional to the current intensity that passes through them. The emitted light has a spectrum – wavelengths distribution – that is defined according to the materials used in the realization of the diode PN junction, although it partially depends on the current intensity and on the junction temperature.
Driving LEDs – [Link]